The way a rice cooker works is that the heating element turns off above 100 degrees C. Water boils at 100 degrees, so once the water all boils off it will shut off automatically. When making rice in a pot, the only way to know if you've boiled off all the water is to stir the rice around, which can make it mushy.

SAT/ACT tutor here: I always tell my students to save the snail mail in a big box. Then when you're feeling anxious about getting into college, dump out all the letters on your bed and roll around in them while saying "they want me! They really want me."

We also did this with bamboo! We'd cut off one 'section' with a cap at both ends and slip it into people's campfires when they weren't looking. Then you slip away to the next campfire, and enjoy the widespread panic all around 20 minutes later.

I have the Osprey Ozone 46 and I love it (used for a 9 month trip through Central America, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia). It's not waterpoof but if you get a dry bag for your laptop you'll be fine (and I survived a few downpours and the majority of my stuff was fine). The one dealbreaker may be the top opening part, but it unzips pretty deep and with packing cubes I had no issues packing and unpacking it daily.